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Revalenta Arabica, or Ervalenta, was a preparation sold in the 18th century as an empirical diet for
Revalenta Arabica, or Ervalenta, was a preparation sold in the 18th century as an empirical diet for patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other hea ...
s, extraordinary restorative virtues being attributed to it.
The product that was mass-marketed was, in reality, only a preparation of the common lentil
The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest pro ...
, its first name being formed for disguise by the transposition of its earlier botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Internat ...
, ''Ervum lens''. While indeed lentils are a healthy and nutritious food, Revalenta Arabica's value was about similar to the common pea-meal (or ground split peas
Split peas are an agricultural or culinary preparation consisting of the dried, peeled and split seeds of ''Pisum sativum'', the pea.
Harvesting
The peas are spherical when harvested, with an outer skin. The peas are dried and the dull-colour ...
).
Original
The real ''Revalenta arabica'' is the "root" of '' Glossostemon bruguieri''. The roots were sold under the name Arabgossi. InEgypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, they are known as Moghat. The original plant of the product was unknown for a long time, until the German Africa explorer and botanician Georg Schweinfurth
Georg August Schweinfurth (29 December 1836 – 19 September 1925) was a Baltic German botanist and ethnologist who explored East Central Africa.
Life and explorations
He was born at Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire. He was edu ...
discovered ''Glossostemon bruguieri'' as its source.p. 35 of Max Meyerhof: ''Alî at-Tabarî's „Paradise of Wisdom“, one of the oldest Arabic Compendiums of Medicine.'' In: ''Isis.'' Tome 16, Nr. 1 (July 1931), pp. 6–54.
They are prepared as a light dish for ailing or ill persons. Plant and usage are described already in ''Firdous al-Hikmah'' („Paradise of Wisdom“) of Ali al-Tabari, a medicinal encyclopedia from the 9th century AD.„Paradise of Wisdom“ chapter 245
References
*This article incorporates text from the ''International Cyclopedia'' of 1890, a publication now in the public domain.